A Sweet Change in Plans (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)
by ilna
Summary: Family fun continues with a tasty competition. Part 4 of the second annual REAL World Thanksgiving Marathon.


**Notes:** Huge thanks as ALWAYS to Mari and Sammy for the squeal/bounce-inducing feedback, and for the copious amounts of fun every day. And to Sammy for the once again *brilliant* title!

Readers and REAL McRollers – Your response to the marathon so far has blown me away! But I shouldn't be surprised there, your phenomenal support always does. Thank you for coming with us on this fantastic ride!

 **Hope you enjoy!**

* * *

 _A Sweet Change in Plans (A McRoll in the REAL World Story)_

Grace and Danny arrived at the beach house shortly after breakfast to wait with the rest of the family for the Allens to arrive so they could take a trip to a petting zoo on the windward side of the island.

Aaron, Joseph, and Grandma Ang were finishing their coffee in the dining room. Danny, Mary, and Elizabeth sat in the living talking while Grace and Joan played on the floor with Cammie keeping watch over them.

Sounds could be heard from the kitchen where Steve and Catherine were cleaning up after breakfast, having refused every offer of help from their guests.

Grace was pointing out the colors in Joan's puzzle when Catherine came into the living room, her phone in hand, followed by Steve.

"I just talked to Jenna," she said. "They're running a little late." She smiled in amusement. "There's a rerun of _Cupcake Wars_ on that Kaitlyn hasn't seen before and she just _has_ to see who wins. I told her that was totally fine."

" _Cupcake Wars_?" Joseph asked.

"It's a show on the Food Network," Aaron said immediately. Excitement built slowly in his voice as he explained, "Bakers create cupcakes with all sorts of really unusual ingredients based on a different theme each episode. They're judged on taste and presentation. The last round they've gotta make a thousand cupcakes for a big display that they build with . . ." His voice trailed off when he realized everyone was staring at him. He cleared his throat. "I . . . may have caught an episode or two."

From the sofa, Mary snorted. "Liar. You love that show."

Aaron sighed, chuckling. "Guilty. I love all the baking shows. _Cupcake Wars._ _Cake Wars_. _Last Cake Standing_. _Next Great Baker_." He noticed Steve and Danny's raised eyebrows and shrugged. "What? It puts two of my favorite things together, baking and competition."

" 'Competition'?" Danny repeated. He laughed. "Oh, you'll fit in perfectly with this crew." He waved a hand to encompass Steve and the Rollins family.

"Do you bake, Aaron?" Elizabeth asked.

" _Does_ he?" Mary said. "Hey, peanut, does Aaron make good cupcakes?"

Joan nodded seriously. "Aawon cu'cakes nummy." She looked over at him. "Ea' cu'cakes heaw?"

Aaron smiled apologetically. "Sorry, pumpkin, I don't have any cupcakes to eat here."

She scrunched up her face. "No cu'cakes?" she asked, as if to make sure.

He shook his head. "No cupcakes."

The possibility of cupcakes gone, Joan turned back to her puzzle and picked up one of the pieces to show Grace. "Wed!"

"That's right," Grace said, clapping. "That's the red bird. Where does it go?"

As Joan tried to put the piece back in her puzzle, Catherine said, "The Allens will be here in about a half hour and we can get going."

"Where going, Ann Caf?" Joan asked, looking up.

"We're going to the petting zoo, remember? To see the goats and the–"

The toddler pushed herself up to stand. "Le's go!"

"We've gotta wait for everyone else to get here, Joanie," Steve said.

Joan looked around in confusion, finally turning to Mary for an explanation.

"The big kids are coming, too," her mother said.

"Big kids?" Joan asked, her brow knitting.

"Remember?" Mary prompted. "From Halloween?"

"H'oween?"

"Halloween. Trick-or-treating?"

Joan grinned. "Twick o' tweat!"

"Of course, _that_ you remember," Mary said, chuckling. "We went with all the kids."

Joan's eyes light in sudden recognition. "Kids! Biiiiig kids."

"That's right. Kaitlyn and Jacob and–"

"Jay-cup!" Joan said with a little jump in place.

"Right. Do you want to try to go potty before they get here?"

Joan shook head. "I pway wif Gwace."

She put her hands on Grace's shoulder and beamed at her, bouncing up and down happily.

Mary huffed a laugh. "Worth a try."

"I'm hoping this weather holds out," Catherine said, leaning over by the sofa towards the window. "It's not looking good out there."

"Is it supposed to rain?" Aaron asked.

Steve nodded. "Yeah."

"Maybe it'll blow over," Ang said hopefully.

But twenty-five minutes later, Steve opened the front door as the Allens ran toward the porch through the driving rain.

"Wow, this weather!" Jenna said, shaking her arms out. "We got halfway here and bam! Downpour."

"Bam!" Jacob echoed. "I tried to jump in between the raindrops but there's too many!"

"Kiddos, take your shoes off out here . . ." Jenna started.

"Oh, don't worry about that," Catherine said, joining Steve by the door. "Come on in."

"We don't want to get water everywhere inside," Jenna said.

"We'll get you some towels," Elizabeth said, motioning for Joseph to follow her upstairs.

They returned a moment later with several towels so the Allens could dry off a bit.

"We were really hoping the rain might blow past," Catherine said, collecting the towels from them. "We'll have to figure out something else to do today."

"Kids!" Joan squealed as the Allens filed inside, and Cammie went over to greet them.

"Hi, Joan!" Kaitlyn said, grinning at her. "Do you remember me?"

" 'Member kids!" Joan said. She pointed. "See, Gwace! Kids!"

"I see," Grace said, smiling happily at the new arrivals.

"You guys all remember Mary and Joan," Catherine said. She pointed towards the dining room where Aaron was standing by Grandma Ang's chair. "And that's Mary's boyfriend Aaron back there."

He waved. "Nice to meet you."

"Aaron, this is Jenna Allen and her kids . . ."

"Wait, let me see if I can do it," he said, smiling. "I've been studying." He rubbed his hands together in preparation, then put his two index fingers together and pointed to each kid as he said the name. "There's . . . Jacob and . . . Kaitlyn. Dylan, Casey, annnnnnd Cody. Right?"

"Perfect," Jenna said with a smile. "Nice to meet you, too. Sorry we're a little drenched."

He waved off her apology and returned her smile warmly.

"Well," Catherine said, looking around. "Full house. We'll have to figure out something fun to do out of this rain."

"I'm sorry we were late," Kaitlyn said and bit her lip. "It was my fault because my show was on."

Elizabeth put an arm around her. "Oh, don't worry about it, sweetie. It was quite a drive up to the petting zoo, we wouldn't have made it before the rain started anyway. So it's probably a good thing you _were_ late. Otherwise we would have driven all that way only to have it rain when we got there."

"Hey, you know I love _Cupcake Wars_ , too," Aaron said. "Which episode was it?"

"The 'Yo Gabba Gabba' one!"

His face lit up. "Oh, that's the one with the big DJ booths at the end, right?"

"Yeah!" she said excitedly. "And the guy put a cucumber on the cupcake! To look like Brobee!"

Aaron laughed. "Right. Good thing no one picked the kale."

"Or the tuna!" Kaitlyn exclaimed.

"Tuna?" Danny balked. "In a _cupcake_?"

"I told you," Aaron said. "Really unusual ingredients."

"Most of them had fruit in this one," Kaitlyn said. "Like strawberries and blueberries. And dragonfruit!"

"Dragonfruit!" Jacob cried. "Cool!"

"You know, Kaitlyn's been doing some baking of her own lately," Jenna said, smiling proudly.

"That's right," Catherine added. "You made the brownies we had on Saturday, didn't you?"

Kaitlyn nodded. "With Mom."

"Wait, wait, wait," Elizabeth broke in, holding both hands up.

"Ooh, I love a 'Wait, wait, wait' from Mom," Catherine said, grinning. "This always means something good is coming."

"I just got an idea," Elizabeth continued, her eyes bright. "What if . . . we have our very own 'Cupcake Wars' right here? We can get some fun ingredients, and Kaitlyn and Aaron can make their own cupcakes." She looked around the room. "I'm sure we have plenty of willing judges to taste test, right?"

Steve nodded. "That sounds like a great idea."

"Free cupcakes?" Danny said with a grin. "Now you're talking."

"Danno," Grace scolded, but she couldn't keep from smiling.

"I'm in," Aaron said, holding his arms out wide, a broad smile on his face. "Definitely."

Jenna looked at Kaitlyn. "What do you think, honey?"

Kaitlyn looked around uncertainly at her siblings.

"Go for it, Kaitlyn," Casey said, nudging her shoulder.

Dylan nodded. "You'll be awesome!"

"Yeah!" Jacob agreed.

Cody smiled at her encouragingly.

A huge smile broke out on Kaitlyn's face, and she clasped her hands together, nodding vigorously. "Yes, yes, yes!"

"Yes, yes, yes!" Joan echoed, bouncing up and down and clapping. She looked at Mary. "What doing, Mama?"

Mary smiled. "Looks like we're gonna have cupcakes after all, peanut."

Joan threw her hands in the air with glee.

"Yay! Cu'cakes!"

* * *

"Okay," Catherine said, moving into planning mode. She looked at Kaitlyn and Aaron. "We're going to need a store run so you two have plenty of stuff to make the cupcakes with."

They both nodded.

"What do you want to use?" Catherine asked.

Kaitlyn bit her lip and glanced at Aaron, then said, "On the show, the bakers don't know what ingredients they have to use till the last minute."

"That's true," he agreed.

"Ooh," Ang said, smiling. "A tough competition."

Catherine nodded. "Okay then . . . Mom, do you want to go with me and we'll grab a bunch of ingredients?"

"Sure," Elizabeth readily agreed. "And we'll get basic cake mixes rather than making the batter from scratch."

" _This_ time," Aaron said, waggling his eyebrows.

Kaitlyn giggled.

Catherine looked at Steve. "And in the meantime, you guys can start setting up the kitchen."

He nodded. "We can do that." He reached for his keys on the end table and handed them to her. "Take the truck."

She took the keys with a nod.

"Let me grab my purse upstairs," Elizabeth said.

As her mother went up, Catherine grabbed an umbrella from the stand under the stairwell.

"And let's not get too weird, okay?" Danny said. "No kale cupcakes, if you don't mind."

Kaitlyn snickered.

"Or tuna," Joseph added.

"No promises," Catherine said with a wink.

* * *

Forty minutes later, Catherine and Elizabeth returned with two full bags from Foodland.

"Aunt Catherine!" Jacob exclaimed, running into the living room. "Come see! The kitchen is ready!"

"Ready for battle!" Dylan added from the doorway.

"What's going on over there?" Catherine asked, looking to where Joseph and Danny were sitting at the dining room table behind the huge cardboard box lying on its side on the floor. "Is that the refrigerator box?"

Joan, on hands and knees, popped her head out, followed by Grace.

"Ann Caf!" she squealed in delight. "I hide wif Gwace! Biiiiiiig box."

Catherine and Elizabeth laughed.

"Uncle Steve and Cody brought it in from the garage and put it back together," Grace said.

"Wonder what made him think of that . . ." Catherine mused, looking at her mother who shrugged.

"Oh, you'll see," Joseph said, nodding toward the kitchen.

"SuperSEAL is in full mission mode," Danny put in.

Catherine and Elizabeth made their way to the doorway between the living room and the crowded kitchen where Jacob and Dylan were waving them in.

"Wow," Catherine said at the scene.

Packed in the kitchen were Grandma Ang, Mary, Jenna, Cody, Dylan, and Jacob. They stood around Kaitlyn and Aaron who were at opposite ends of the island with various kitchen tools laid out in front of them. They each had bowls, mixing spoons, and measuring cups, and there was a large piece of cardboard set up in the center of the island, dividing it in half.

"Oh, what a good idea," Elizabeth said. "Now you won't be able to see each other while you're coming up with your delicious creations."

"Steve's idea," Mary said with a smirk. "Of course."

"Where is–" Catherine started.

"Hey," Steve said, coming into the kitchen behind her holding a small folding step stool. "I was about to text you. We've got three cupcake pans, but one's a totally different size and the other two are different quantities."

"I thought of that at the store," Catherine said. She looked at Aaron and Kaitlyn. "We got mini-cupcake pans and baking cups, so you can make enough for everyone to try."

"How many different cupcakes can we make?" Kaitlyn asked, holding on to the edge of the island and bouncing on the balls of her feet.

"Well, there are sixteen of us and room for forty-eight mini-cupcakes in each pan so–"

"Wait, let me figure it out," Dylan cut in. "Please?"

Catherine smiled. "Go for it."

He scrunched up his face, thinking. "Sixteen people . . . so . . . um . . ."

"You can do it," Cody said. "Remember those word problems from last week."

Dylan's gaze focused on the ground, and he chewed his lip as he did the math in his head. His face lit up. "Three! Three different kinds! Right?"

He looked over at Cody and Jenna for confirmation.

"Great job, honey," Jenna said, smiling proudly.

Jacob's eyes widened. "So we get to eat _three cupcakes?!_ "

"Actually, six," Mary said. "Three from Kaitlyn and three from Aaron."

Steve winced. "Sign-up now to go run 'em off in the morning."

"That's why we thought we'd get the pans with the mini-sized cupcakes," Catherine said with a little cringe of acknowledgement at his point.

He shook his head, sighing with a resigned chuckle.

"Should we have a time limit?" Kaitlyn asked, her hands clasped together in excitement. "Like they have on the show?"

"Of course!" Aaron agreed.

"They get 45 minutes for the first round," Kaitlyn said. "But they only have to make one kind of cupcake. And they get 75 minutes when they have to make three."

"Then I think 75 minutes," Elizabeth suggested. "There's a double-oven so we can bake them at the same time."

"Sounds good," Aaron said.

Kaitlyn looked at Jenna who nodded. "Okay," she said.

"Usually the bakers have a helper with them," Aaron said. He nodded at Kaitlyn. "But we were thinking we'd be okay on our own, right?"

"Yeah," Kaitlyn said. "We thought you could be in here with us while we're making the cupcakes, Aunt Elizabeth. Since it was your idea."

Aaron nodded. "That way everyone else will be surprised when they're done."

"They won't know who made what," Kaitlyn added seriously. "I don't want anyone to pick mine just 'cause I'm the kid."

Jenna reached over and squeezed her shoulder.

"So Elizabeth will monitor the competition to make sure there's no shenanigans," Ang said, a twinkle in her eye.

"What's shenanigans?" Jacob asked.

Dylan gasped. "Timmy Failure! Shenanigans abound!"

Mary laughed. "What?"

"Timmy Failure! It's a book. His partner is a giant polar bear and he says 'Shenanigans abound'!"

"It means mischief or tricks, honey," Jenna told Jacob.

"Ohhh," Jacob said. He shook his head vigorously. "Kaitlyn doesn't trick anyone."

Ang smiled. "I'm sure she doesn't."

"I'm sure, too," Elizabeth said. "But I'd be honored to watch you two bakers create your masterpieces." She smiled at Jenna. "And don't worry, I'll take lots of pictures."

Jenna nodded gratefully.

Steve looked at Jacob and Dylan and cocked his thumb over his shoulder. "Why don't you guys go help your sister finish those hats?"

"Oh yeah!" Jacob said, and he and Dylan maneuvered their way between people and out of the kitchen.

After a final adjustment of the cardboard barrier, Cody followed.

"Well, we got you two a bunch of potential ingredients," Catherine said.

She and Elizabeth put their bags on the small table.

"Peanut butter cups, chocolate chips, coconut, strawberries, marshmallows, gummy bears," she listed.

Kaitlyn's eyes widened with each new item they took out of the bags.

"We got chocolate _and_ vanilla cake mix," Elizabeth said. "Plus a couple kinds of frosting."

"And sprinkles," Catherine continued, shaking the colorful container with a smile. "Plus you can use anything you find in the fridge or pantry, okay?"

Kaitlyn nodded excitedly, her eyes glued to the table full of goodies.

"So one hour, three kinds of cupcakes, then a taste test with everyone as judges?" Aaron summarized.

"Right," Elizabeth confirmed. "Except me. I'll recuse myself since I'll be watching you two bake."

Kaitlyn looked stricken. "But you should get to eat them too, Aunt Elizabeth."

"Oh, don't worry honey, I will," Elizabeth assured her. "I just won't vote."

"Ohh," Kaitlyn said, understanding.

"Here's a step stool for you, Kaitlyn," Steve said, moving over to her and setting the stool down by the island so she could better reach everything.

"Thanks, Uncle Steve," she said, stepping up on it.

"Well?" Elizabeth said. "Are we ready to start?"

"Oh, wait, wait, wait," Catherine said.

Steve smirked. "Like mother, like daughter."

Catherine grinned, going over to the pantry and opening it just enough to grab two clean aprons off the back of the door.

"Here we go."

She handed a red and white striped apron to Aaron, then went over to help Kaitlyn put on the shorter navy blue one with white stars.

"Perfect," she said, after wrapping the ties twice around the small girl's waist.

"Where's your plaid apron, Catherine?" Elizabeth asked. "The purple one?"

"In the wash," Catherine and Steve said in unison, their eyes flicking quickly to each other and hiding small smiles.

"The hats are ready!" Jacob called as he and his siblings came back into the crowded kitchen.

Grace followed with Joan on her hip, and Danny and Joseph hovered at the doorway.

"Look what Casey made!" Jacob said.

"Ha's!" Joan cried.

Casey and Dylan held up simple chef hats made out of paper decorated with crayon drawings and rolled into large cylinders.

"We drew cupcakes on them!" Jacob announced. "For good luck!"

Dylan took one to Aaron while Casey brought the other over to Kaitlyn, fitting it on her head.

"Good luck, little sis," she said, and gave her a quick hug.

"Yeah," Dylan said. "Can't wait to eat the cupcakes!"

"Good luck, Aaron," Casey added.

"Yeah, good luck!" Jacob echoed, looking at both of the bakers. "Make really good ones, okay?"

Aaron laughed. "Okay."

"Okay," Kaitlyn said, smiling at her siblings, though it was tinged with nerves.

"You can do it," Cody said, putting his arm around her. "I know you can."

She leaned against him, holding her hat on her head with one hand. "Thanks, Cody," she said gratefully.

The teenager nodded to Aaron as he stepped toward the door. "Good luck."

"Thanks," Aaron said, nodding back.

"Come on, guys," Cody said to his siblings and led them out of the kitchen.

Danny and Joseph called their good lucks from the doorway.

Grace stepped over to Aaron with Joan.

He smiled. "Can I have a kiss for good luck, pumpkin?" he asked, leaning toward the toddler.

She giggled, bouncing in Grace's arms, and pressed a kiss to his cheek.

"Thank you!" he said, tickling her tummy to her squirming delight.

"How about Kaitlyn?" Grace asked, going over to the other side of the island. "Can Kaitlyn have a kiss for good luck, too?"

Joan hesitated for only a second before smiling and leaning forward to kiss Kaitlyn on the cheek.

Kaitlyn beamed happily, raising up on her tiptoes.

"Don't forget to have fun in here," Ang said, hanging on to the counter with one hand as she made her way toward the doorway. "Good luck, both of you."

"Good luck!" Grace echoed, following Ang out of the kitchen with Joan waving over her shoulder.

Steve and Catherine smiled, wishing both competitors good luck.

"Like Grandma Ang said," Catherine reiterated. "Have fun."

Putting a hand on Steve's arm, she gently nudged him toward the doorway and out of the kitchen.

Mary turned to Aaron, plucking at his apron strings. "Good luck." She leaned up and gave him a quick kiss.

He smiled, adjusting his paper hat. "Thanks."

She went over to Kaitlyn and leaned down to stage whisper, "Kick his butt."

Kaitlyn giggled, putting her hands over her mouth.

Aaron laughed heartily and watched Mary saunter out.

Jenna wrapped her arms around her daughter from behind and rocked her carefully atop the stool. "Good luck, honey. You're gonna do great!" She lifted the paper hat to kiss the top of Kaitlyn's head before replacing it and following Mary out of the kitchen.

Once they were all gone, Elizabeth turned to Aaron and Kaitlyn and smiled, asking, "Are you ready?"

Aaron stuck his hand out towards Kaitlyn, and she grinned, shaking it.

"May the best baker win," he said.

* * *

After the cupcakes had been baked, frosted, and decorated, Elizabeth and Aaron removed the cardboard divider so the two bakers could see the other's creations.

"Wow!" Kaitlyn said, looking at the mini-cupcakes in Aaron's pan. "Peanut butter cups. My brothers will love that one."

"Hey, I love the gummy bears!" Aaron said, pointing at hers. "Awesome!"

The two bakers had removed their hats but were still wearing their aprons.

"Are we ready to take them out to the judges?" Elizabeth asked.

"We shouldn't carry them out ourselves," Kaitlyn said, twisting her hands together. "Then everyone will know who made which ones."

"Okay," Elizabeth said. She picked up one of the pans and stepped to the kitchen doorway, looking into the living room. "Catherine?"

Aaron looked at Kaitlyn. "Are you nervous?"

She bit her lip and nodded. "A little."

"Your cupcakes look amazing, Kaitlyn," he said genuinely. "They really do."

The corners of her mouth lifted in a little smile.

He put a hand on her arm and squeezed gently. "And the important thing is that we had fun, right?"

Her smile grew, and she nodded happily. "Yeah!"

After giving one of the pans to Catherine, Elizabeth returned for the other one.

"Ready?" she asked.

Kaitlyn grinned. "Ready."

"Ready," Aaron echoed.

The two bakers followed Elizabeth and Catherine to the dining room where the gathered group made way for the tasty procession.

From her spot in her booster seat, Joan squealed, "Cu'cakes!" She looked at her mother beside her. "Ea' cu'cakes, Mama?"

"Yes," Mary said with a laugh. "We're about to eat _a lot_ of cupcakes."

Jacob, in one of the other chairs, bounced excitedly. "Soooooo many cupcakes!"

"Holy cow," Ang agreed from next to him.

The rest of the group was standing around the table with their paper plates in eager anticipation.

Grace smiled broadly. "They all look delicious!"

"Delicious and ready to eat," Danny said with a grin.

"Okay, here's what we're going to do," Elizabeth said. She held up a small notepad where she had made notes during the baking. "I'll tell you what's in each cupcake, but not who made it. Everyone will try each one and decide which is their favorite. Whichever baker gets the most votes . . . is the winner."

"Is there a prize?" Jacob asked.

Elizabeth grinned. "As a matter of fact, there is. I got a little something else when we went to the store for ingredients." She took a bag from the sideboard. She turned to Aaron and Kaitlyn. "You're competing for the coveted golden apron!"

She pulled a gold-colored apron from the bag and held it up.

"Oooooh," Joan said. "Pwetty."

The others laughed at her reaction, and Elizabeth folded the apron and set it back on the sideboard.

"Are you ready to eat?" she asked.

"Yeah!" Jacob cried, and was immediately echoed by Dylan and Joan.

Jenna hugged a beaming Kaitlyn to her side.

Elizabeth checked her notebook, then pointed to one of the pans. "The first is a chocolate cupcake with peanut butter and crumbled peanut butter cups mixed into the batter. The white frosting is mixed with more peanut butter, and of course there is a peanut butter cup on top."

The mini-cupcakes were quickly distributed, and everyone took a bite.

"Oh," Danny said, his eyes wide. "Wow."

"Mmm," Dylan said, his mouth full.

"Mmmm," Joan echoed and licked the frosting off the top, getting some on her nose and cheeks. She pressed the cupcake between her hands and crumbs fell to her lap.

Mary shook her head ruefully. "Should've taken your clothes off, kid."

"That is heavenly," Danny continued.

"Yeah, it is," Cody agreed.

"Good," Joseph said. "A lot of peanut butter, but good."

After everyone had tried the first cupcake, Elizabeth said, "Now one from the other pan. This is a vanilla cupcake with chopped strawberries inside, white frosting, and a strawberry slice on top."

"Ooh," Grace said. "I love strawberries."

"Me, too," Jenna said.

"That's delicious," Catherine said, licking a bit of frosting from her lip.

Joseph nodded. "New favorite."

After a few more comments, they moved on to the next cupcake.

"This one is a chocolate cake with coconut milk and coconut flakes mixed in, and white frosting with coconut extract and a few more coconut flakes on top."

Steve took a bite and nodded, "Mmm, yeah, that's the one. Right there."

Danny balked. "You haven't even tried all of them yet."

"That's the one. I'm tellin' you."

Joan stuck her tongue out gingerly to taste one of the flakes. She smacked her lips a few times, made a face, then put the cupcake down on the table and reached for what was left of the chocolate peanut butter one on her plate.

"T'is nummy," she said. She looked at Mary. "I ha' moa?"

"Of course you want more," her mother laughed. "But we're gonna try another one now."

"Yes, we are," Elizabeth said. "This one has vanilla _and_ chocolate batter."

"Ooh, like a marble cake," Jenna said.

"And the frosting is also a swirl of chocolate and vanilla, with a gummy bear on top."

"Gummy bear!" Jacob cried, popping his into his mouth and chewing.

Dylan grinned. "Coolest topping so far. But that peanut butter chocolate cupcake is still the best."

"Uh uh," Steve protested, smiling. "Coconut."

Catherine grinned at him and reached up to wipe a little frosting from the corner of his mouth.

His eyes danced as he smiled back at her.

Elizabeth started the next one around. "This is a vanilla cupcake with crushed pineapple mixed in and a pineapple cream cheese frosting."

Danny's lip curled slightly as he looked at the mini-cupcake, but he took a bite. "You don't get extra points for the hometown favorite ingredient," he said around the bite. He finished swallowing. "And speaking of hometown ingredients, no one tell Kamekona about this, huh? He'll want in on the rematch, and I don't want to have to eat a Spam and shrimp cupcake."

"Ugh!" Casey said. "He wouldn't . . . would he?"

"Oh, he would," Steve and Danny said in unison.

"And last but not least," Elizabeth said. "We have a chocolate cupcake with marshmallows baked inside and chocolate frosting with marshmallows and sprinkles on top."

"Gooey!" Jacob exclaimed when he bit into the cupcake and marshmallow oozed out. "Yum!"

"It's good," Ang said. "Sticky, but good."

" 'ticky!" Joan cried, poking at the marshmallow in her cupcake.

"Okay, time to pick your favorites," Elizabeth said. "But first, I think we need a big cheer for our two bakers who did an outstanding job in the kitchen."

Cheers, hoots, and whistles filled the air as everyone heaped praise on Kaitlyn and Aaron for the delicious cupcakes.

"So, favorite cupcake," Elizabeth said. "Jacob?"

"Marshmallow!" he cried, pumping a sticky hand into the air.

"Dylan?"

"Chocolate peanut butter," he said with a decisive nod. "Definitely chocolate peanut butter."

"Casey?"

"Yep, chocolate peanut butter."

"Cody?"

"Chocolate peanut butter. But the marshmallow was a close second."

Elizabeth smiled. "Ooh, chocolate peanut butter with the early lead."

"Coconut, coconut, coconut," Steve said.

Danny rolled his eyes. "Saying it three times does not give it three votes."

"Danny, I can put you down for pineapple, right?" Elizabeth teased.

"Uh no, thank you," he said. "Chocolate peanut butter for me." He smirked in Steve's direction.

"Grace?" Elizabeth asked.

"They were all so good, but the strawberry one was my favorite."

"Mine, too," Jenna said. "And you're right, they were all really good."

"Mom?" Elizabeth asked.

"Strawberry for me, too," Ang said.

"Mary?"

"Come on, Mare," Steve said. "Think about how good that coconut was . . ."

"Sorry, bro," she said, smiling. "Chocolate peanut butter." She glanced at Aaron. "I'm a sucker for chocolate and peanut butter."

Steve shook his head. "You always have been."

He took in the look between Mary and Aaron and smiled softly.

"Captain?" Elizabeth said, with a playful smile at her husband.

"You mean you don't already know?" Joseph teased back.

"Oh, I have a pretty good idea," she said. "For you _and_ Catherine."

Joseph raised his eyebrows.

"Strawberry," Elizabeth stated simply.

He smiled affectionately and nodded once.

Steve looked at Catherine, raising an eyebrow.

"Caaaath," he drew the name out.

She smiled at him. "The coconut one was _really_ good . . ."

He sighed. "But the strawberry was your favorite."

She nodded, her nose wrinkling with her smile.

His chin dropped to his chest, then he looked up smiling.

"I tried," he said with a little shrug before dropping his arm around her shoulders.

She chuckled, leaning against him.

"Uh oh," Elizabeth said as she tallied the results.

"What?" Steve asked.

"How did this . . ." Elizabeth started, her brow knitting. "That shouldn't . . ."

"Mom, what?" Catherine asked.

"It's a tie," Elizabeth said. "That shouldn't have been possible." She glanced at the pans and back at her notes. "Let's see. Kaitlyn made the strawberry, the marshmallow, and the marble cupcakes. It was five votes for the strawberry and one marshmallow, so six votes there. And Aaron made the chocolate peanut butter, the pineapple, and the coconut."

Steve gave him a quick approving nod, and Aaron grinned.

"The chocolate peanut butter got five votes, and the coconut got one . . ." Elizabeth continued.

"And we all know quite well who that one was," Danny said sarcastically.

Steve gave him a broad smile in response.

"So that's six, too," Elizabeth said, ignoring the exchange.

"You didn't vote, Aunt Elizabeth," Dylan said.

"Oh, no, honey, I'm not voting since I knew who made what. The bakers wanted it to be as fair as possible." She tapped her chin with her pencil. "There should be an odd number . . ."

"Joan didn't vote!" Jacob cried.

"Oh!" Elizabeth said. "Joan! That's right."

They all looked at the toddler who was contentedly eating the mashed up chocolate and marshmallow mess in her hands. She had various flavors of cupcake and frosting all over her face, including her forehead, as well as in her hair.

Danny laughed. "Joan is the deciding vote. Of course she is."

"Hey, you messy little peanut," Mary said. "Which cupcake did you like best?"

Joan nodded and licked marshmallow from between her fingers. "Cu'cakes nummy."

"Yep, they were all nummy, but which was one was your favorite?"

"Yeah, Joanie," Steve said. "Which one did you like best?"

"Don't you dare try to influence her," Danny said, pointing at him.

"I would never–"

Danny balked. "Uh, evidence to the contrary," he said, waving a hand at Catherine and Mary.

Steve shrugged, rolling his eyes and smiling in amusement.

"Come on, Joan," Catherine said. "Which cupcake was your favorite, sweetie?"

"There's strawberry, marshmallow, coconut, pineapple, peanut butter, and marble," Mary said, pointing to what was left on hers and Joan's plates.

"Cu'cakes nummy," Joan repeated, looking at her in confusion.

"They are, but which one is the best?"

"Which one is the _nummiest_?" Jacob asked.

"Nummiest?" Joan sounded the word out slowly.

Mary nodded. "Nummiest."

Joan looked around and gave a toothy grin when she saw that everyone was focused on her.

"Come on, peanut, pick one," her mother prompted.

Joan lunged for a half-eaten cupcake on Mary's plate.

" 'ticky!" she cried, pressing the remainder of the gooey chocolate marshmallow cupcake to her mouth and missing with most of it.

"There you have it," Danny said, laughing.

"The winner . . ." Elizabeth began.

"The grand champion," Aaron continued, smiling broadly and raising Kaitlyn's arm into the air triumphantly. "Master Cupcake Baker Kaitlyn Allen!"

"WOOOOOOO, KAITLYN!" her siblings cheered.

"You did it, honey!" Jenna exclaimed, wrapping her in tight hug.

"I did it!" Kaitlyn cried, bursting with happiness.

Jacob, Dylan, and Casey ran over to join the hug, followed by Cody while the others looked on with happy smiles.

"Here you go," Elizabeth said, bringing the golden apron over.

The rest of the Allens stepped back, with Cody pulling Jacob along, so Elizabeth could put it on Kaitlyn over the blue apron with the stars.

She grabbed the sides and pulled it straight out so she could look at it, her smile rivaling the sun that was finally making an appearance outside.

"Congratulations, Kaitlyn," Aaron said, holding out his hand to her.

She grinned at him and shook his hand.

"Know what?" she said.

"What?"

"You're a master cupcake baker, too. I think we're _both_ champions."

"Thanks," he said genuinely and pulled her into a hug. "But there's only one champion today, and it's you."

"To Kaitlyn!" Danny said, raising half of his strawberry cupcake in the air.

"To Kaitlyn!" the others echoed, finding cupcake halves of their own to toast.

"Kay'lin!" Joan cried, throwing her sticky hands in the air and grinning a chocolatey smile.

The cupcake champion beamed, standing straighter and shining brightly.

"And the most important thing . . ." She looked over and smiled at Aaron. "We had fun!"

He nodded and returned her smile wholeheartedly.

"This was definitely a sweet change in plans."

* * *

 **Hope you enjoyed!**

 **Note:** Special, special thanks to my cousins who shared the fantastic story of the Cupcake War competition in their own house and generously allowed me to use the idea here (including a few of the recipes!). Can't wait to hear about a rematch!

The _Timmy Failure_ series is by Stephan Pastis and published by Candlewick Press. The immortal line, "Shenanigans abound," appears in book two, _Timmy Failure: Now Look What You've Done_ (2014).

 **Stay tuned for more family fun when the marathon continues tomorrow!**

 _Keep track of all the REAL World stories on our Tumblr page - mcrollintherealworld at tumblr dot com - including a chronological list!_

 _You can still join our mailing list by emailing us realmcroll at yahoo dot com with Add me, please! in the subject line._

 _And find Mari on Twitter asking your opinions on all things McRoll in the REAL World! Mari21763 and add #REALMcRoller_


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